Tihar Jail inmates packed cookies at a bakery inside the jail complex, as part of a self-reliance program initiated by jail authorities, May 11. Now, the high security prison is focusing on some of its poorer inmates with a literacy drive.

South Asia’s largest prison, Tihar Jail, is infamous for sheltering notorious inmates, including corrupt Indian bureaucrats and big-ticket politicians. Now, the jail is focusing on some of its poorer inmates with a literacy drive.

Of the jail’s 12,200 inmates, about a quarter of them were illiterate when the program started in May. Today, the high-security prison, which houses convicted murderers, kidnappers and the corrupt, claims to have achieved functional literacy among all inmates, with a final batch of 250 prisoners set to pass through the program this week. “Tihar is on the road to 100% literacy by the year-end,” Sunil Gupta, Tihar’s law officer, told India Real Time in an interview.

The National Literacy Mission, a government initiative which promotes literacy, is behind the drive, which is an attempt to prepare inmates for life beyond bars.

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The program has received “an overwhelming response” from literate inmates, of whom approximately 200 volunteered to train illiterate convicts during the year, Mr. Gupta said.

From 8.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. each morning, the jail’s cells and courtyards transform into classrooms with literate convicts and special educators training illiterates in accordance to guidelines laid down by the NLM, Mr. Gupta added.

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Suresh Kalmadi, jailed this year for corruption is not participating in the literacy drive due to “security concerns.”

So have the jail’s high-profile literates, former Telecom Minister A. Raja and Commonwealth Games Chief, Suresh Kalmadi – both jailed this year for corruption — volunteered for the program?

No.

“These VIP’s have been excluded due to security concerns,” Mr. Gupta said.

India has made great strides in improving literacy across the country in recent years but challenges remain. Twenty years ago, only 43% of the country was literate, while this year’s census found that 74% of people had basic literacy skills. Only 66% of women, though, are literate, the 2011 census found.

The Tihar program is part of a long-running attempt by the jail to improve conditions for inmates. Built in the 1950s, it was designed as a model prison with lawns and gardens. But the prison became squalid and dominated by violent gangs of inmates. Nowadays, Tihar boasts a library and computer lab. But it’s not so egalitarian: High-profile inmates still are able to wrangle favors, like air-conditioning and special food.

The last batch from Tihar’s program, like other graduates from the program, will receive “neo-literate” certificates by the year-end. According to the United Nations, a “neo-literate” is a person who did not or could not make use of the available educational opportunities on time, and who at a later stage acquired the skills of literacy through formal or non-formal education.

Tihar jail authorities issue these certificates to convicts after a test administered by the NLM, which includes questions aimed at testing their knowledge of English or Hindi and basic arithmetic.

The literacy program is not the only move by jail authorities to make prisoners self-reliant. Tihar Jail organized three recruitment fairs over the year, during which 165 inmates found jobs with companies, including an inmate who completed an MBA degree while in jail and secured a job with a salary of $11,245 per annum, a large pay check in India.

Experts concur that self-sufficiency is essential to reform convicts in the long-run.

Mathew Joseph, national assistant coordinator of Prison Ministry India, a non-profit advocating criminal rehabilitation, noted that acute poverty and illiteracy frequently compel the deprived to undertake petty crimes. “This doesn’t stop after serving a term in prison,” he said.

“Absence of basic standards of living and an ambiguous future can further force convicts to indulge in criminal activities once released from jail,” he said. “It is therefore essential to reform, rehabilitate and engage such prisoners in jail itself.” Mr. Joseph also noted that convicts risk becoming anti-social and depressed if not engaged in meaningful activities while in jail.

Reny George, a former convict who is director of Prison Fellowship India, another nonprofit, cautioned that “change is not an overnight process.”

Having personally experienced the stigma of incarceration, Mr. George noted that literacy and self-sufficiency programs are “undoubtedly beneficial.” But he said it’s tough to discern the success rate of such programs accurately. “Some prisoners enhance these skills to earn a living, while others are immune to such change.”

Nevertheless, Mr. George added that “if these programs reform even one percent of Tihar’s inmates in the long-run, it is ultimately worth it.”

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India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.